Signatures submitted for California initiatives to prohibit taxes on personal savings and assets, require audits for new special taxes, and challenge proposed billionaire tax measure

Campaigns behind two ballot initiatives in California designed to challenge provisions of the proposed billionaires' tax initiative filed signatures for verification on May 4. The initiatives are constitutional amendments that would:

prohibit the enactment of new taxes after January 1, 2026, on ownership or accumulation of retirement holdings, individually-owned assets, and other forms of personal savings and
require state laws or ballot initiatives levying a new special tax, which is any tax imposed for specific purposes, enacted after January 1, 2026, to undergo state audits to determine program effectiveness and cost-saving measures.

Californians to Protect Retirement and Life Savings, sponsored by Building a Better California, is leading the Yes to Protect Retirement and Life Savings campaign in support of the first initiative. It reported submitting more than 1.4 million raw signatures. The campaign has reported over $27.7 million in contributions as of March 30. All of the contributions were from Building a Better California, which has received $57 million from Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

Tom Hudson, president of the California Taxpayer Protection Committee, said, “It’s not surprising that voters support protecting their retirement and savings from new taxes. History shows that taxes sold as narrow taxes on the wealthy often end up reaching working and middle-class families. Californians want our state to do better with the money they already have. They shouldn’t get to take more money from Californians if they saved responsibly.”

Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government is leading the campaign in support of the initiative and is also sponsored by Building a Better California. The committee reported more than $28.7 million in contributions, with Building a Better California contributing all of it.

In a press release announcing the signature submission, Paul Granillo, president and CEO of Inland Empire Economic Partnership, said: “Californians are fed up. We are paying some of the highest taxes in the nation on top of the exorbitant costs of basic living expenses, yet tax dollars are being misused and wasted, which impacts real communities across the state. The Transparency Act will finally provide the accountability, trackable progress and transparency that voters need and deserve.”

The billionaire tax initiative is also pending signature verification. The initiative would levy a 5% tax on the accumulated wealth of billionaires in the state. Revenue from the tax would be dedicated to state-funded health care programs, such as Medi-Cal, state food assistance, and public education. The initiative is a combined constitutional amendment and state statute.

Save California Health Care and Public Education, sponsored by SEIU-UHW, is leading the campaign in support of the tax. The campaign submitted 1.5 million signatures on April 27.

Prior to submitting signatures, Suzanne Jimenez, chief of staff at SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, spoke out against the competing measures, saying, "Despite the expensive and wasteful tactics by a small group of billionaires that aim to deny voters a choice on the billionaire tax in November, our growing coalition and volunteer base is on track with signature collection and gaining momentum. The public is crystal clear on the fact that keeping ERs and clinics open is more important than billionaires getting more tax breaks."

Both initiatives challenging the billionaires' tax contain competing measures' provisions. The first initiative, which prohibits new taxes on the ownership or accumulation of retirement holdings, individually-owned assets, and other forms of personal savings, states that if the initiative receives more votes than a competing measure, it would prevail in its entirety over any other measures on the 2026 ballot related to taxing personal assets.

The second amendment states that ballot measures appearing on the same statewide election ballot that either impose different audit rules or a state tax exempt from the state spending limit would be deemed in conflict with this initiative. If the initiative is approved and receives more affirmative votes than the competing measure, it prevails over the other measure in its entirety. If both measures are approved and the competing measure receives more affirmative votes but is later ruled invalid, the initiative would take effect.

To qualify an initiated constitutional amendment or a combined constitutional amendment and state statute in California, proponents need to submit 874,641 valid signatures, which is equal to 8% of the votes cast at the prior gubernatorial election.

The petitions will undergo a random sample check to verify the validity of the signatures. If the calculation determines that the number of valid signatures is greater than 110 percent of the required number of signatures, the secretary of state certifies that the proposition has qualified for the ballot without further verification. The deadline to qualify for the ballot or withdraw an initiative is June 25 (131 days before the election).

Three initiatives have qualified for the 2026 ballot in California. Voters will decide on:

An amendment to require a two-thirds vote by the electorate to enact special local taxes and to prohibit charter city real estate transfer taxes;
An amendment to require voters to present government-issued identification when casting ballots and require election officials to use government data to confirm voter citizenship and report verification rates; and
A law to establish a second mortgage homebuyer program for qualified homebuyers on qualifying homes and to issue $25 billion in bonds to fund the program.

California voters will also be deciding on three legislative referrals — an amendment related to initiative supermajority requirements, a law to allow the state and local governments to create public campaign finance programs, and an amendment to eliminate the successor election when a state officer is recalled.

Of the remaining 13 ballot initiatives that reported reaching the 25% threshold earlier in the year, the following 11 have submitted signatures:

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